Seriously, f#%*king pinch bolts cost me over $2k to remove

[ryanm]

I just came to rant. Seriously though, wtf. I really wanna see if they use though stupid pinch bolts in Germany too or if they just use them in North America as some sort of cruel payback for WWII.

Passenger was my first time, ended up messing that up so bad it was cheaper to just buy a used upright. ~$200 and 12 hours of work.

Driver side, I used the threaded-nut-to-pull-it-out approach. Pulled so hard it stripped the bolt before it'd loosen the bolt and, of course, at one point I slipped and my foot tore the DRC line straight off. Fluid everywhere and suspension is junk. $1600 for Ohlins I guess.

So what should have taken 20 minutes each side, cost me $2000 and 20-24 hours of work including suspension.

f#%*king ridiculous.

[badger.]

I feel ya. Not $2k feel ya, but I remember.. I had to take the entire knuckle out of the car, both side. I went through a few hack saw blades, a few drill bits, and destroyed a punch set. 20 hours sounds about right

I put the new ones in with about half a can of anitseize And they were still a bitch to get out a year later. But at least I didn't need to take the knuckles out completely again. I'd be OK with never doing that again.

[EUROSWAGR]

You ever hear of an air hammer? Sounds like you should pay someone next time.

[sitting proper]

You ever hear of an air hammer? Sounds like you should pay someone next time.

Unfortunately using an air hammer will crack the aluminum spindle when tightening the bolts. I know that one first hand.

[melomandn]

You ever hear of an air hammer? Sounds like you should pay someone next time.

Pinch bolts laugh in the face of an air hammer

[Turbo_B5]

Dang. Mine where so seized I broke the head off each bolt and had to punch them out. I used Stainless Steel bolts and a fuck ton of antiseize on re assembly.

Stripped the driver side bolt and welded a nut to the bolt and even that didn't work. Ended up heating and punching it out after getting the tie rod out.




The passenger side was easier. It did like to catch fire though. All while heating and blowing out fire often, we tightened the nut down with a spacer (boxed end of a wrench) to pull the bolt out then punched it out. The passenger side rack boot is torn witch explains why the joint is bad. both inners wont stay up under their own weight. This car has a long passenger boot too.

[kevinye77137]

omg I feel your pain.. i cracked my pinch bolt when i reinstalled it.. I had nightmares thinking that my control arms will just give up on me when im on the highway and my baby go bye bye. But i rather have that than replacing the steering knuckle jk jist too lazy and broke to replace

[q_dubz]

No air chisel with a point, torch, lube, and a couple wedges/screw drivers. First one took like 4 hours of mostly cursing and learning, the second one took about 2.

[Brettannica]

Woah! Ouch. I’d be ready to commit murder.

On a brighter note. I used an air hammer and the whole job including UCA and H&R springs on all four corners was about 4 hours.

[Vertol]

Since I have all of the parts and will be tackling this soon I have a question. if you have spent hours trying to get the pinch bolts out then what part of the country do you live in? I am in the pacific Northwest and the underside of my car has never seen road salt. i am wondering if this is a regional issue and i might get lucky with the pinch bolts.

[melomandn]

Since I have all of the parts and will be tackling this soon I have a question. if you have spent hours trying to get the pinch bolts out then what part of the country do you live in? I am in the pacific Northwest and the underside of my car has never seen road salt. i am wondering if this is a regional issue and i might get lucky with the pinch bolts.

Region plays a huge role. Living in an area that uses salt makes this job hell. On the flip side, members on here from California have popped out their 100k+ mile factory pinch bolt in a matter of minutes.

[Black Fire]

I did my control arms a few months ago and read all the horror stories and was a bit worried. With 120k they popped right out.

[2004B6S4]

For my pinch bolts, I just unthreaded the nut a few turns and then wacked it with a hammer and out it came! super easy! lol sorry for rubbing it in, wait no I'm not haha


Seriously though, sorry to hear about your ordeal OP, that sucks. It's definitely a regional thing. The pinch bolts themselves are not a problem, the snow/salt that they are exposed to in some regions is the problem.

edit - just an idea, if you live in one of those regions, maybe you could prevent the issue by somehow sealing up all the little cracks around the pinch area? Not something permanent but just something to prevent water/salt from getting in the cracks, maybe smear it with a bunch of waterproof grease or something like that

[TEB]

Did my S4 a couple weeks ago with no issues at all on pinch bolt (thanks to Arizona and Florida). However, when I did my old B5A4 in Cleveland, I took it to the dealer and had them loosen all the bolts that needed to be removed to do the control arms/suspension. They charged me 2 hours of shop labor, but it was completely worth it.

[TEB]

edit - just an idea, if you live in one of those regions, maybe you could prevent the issue by somehow sealing up all the little cracks around the pinch area? Not something permanent but just something to prevent water/salt from getting in the cracks, maybe smear it with a bunch of waterproof grease or something like that

After I did my old A4, I started removing the pinch bolt and reapplying antiseeze as a part of my normal maintenance when I rotated tires. Paid off many years later as I gave the car to my brother and he had to do the control arms a second time and it came apart easily.

[mjfloyd1]

What's the easiest way to reinstall the upper control arm ball joints before you reinstall the pinch bolt?

[LJH]

I had my car in for a secondary air pump issue, needed an inspection so I needed it done ASAP. While it was there I asked the garage, who works on lots of Audi's, to see if they could get the pinch bolts out as I need to do control arms. He said that even with the "pinch bolt tool" that there is a chance the boss on the uprights might break and they will not cover that. I am fully aware of what might happen after dealing with them in my '01.5 S4 and told them to go ahead. I pick the car up the next day and ask how the pinch bolts went? He goes on to tell me that both came out VERY easily and he is not even going to charge me. I am shocked since my car came from Chicago and in the last 6 years I have owned it it goes to VT a good 6-8 times a ski season.

After the torture that the B5 put me through I was happy to hand over some cash for someone to take care of them but I guess I should have tried them first.

Cheers,
Jim

[FulhamFTW]

I had my car in for a secondary air pump issue, needed an inspection so I needed it done ASAP. While it was there I asked the garage, who works on lots of Audi's, to see if they could get the pinch bolts out as I need to do control arms. He said that even with the "pinch bolt tool" that there is a chance the boss on the uprights might break and they will not cover that. I am fully aware of what might happen after dealing with them in my '01.5 S4 and told them to go ahead. I pick the car up the next day and ask how the pinch bolts went? He goes on to tell me that both came out VERY easily and he is not even going to charge me. I am shocked since my car came from Chicago and in the last 6 years I have owned it it goes to VT a good 6-8 times a ski season.

After the torture that the B5 put me through I was happy to hand over some cash for someone to take care of them but I guess I should have tried them first.

Cheers,
Jim

Nice to see someone else with the same experience. I daily drive my car all year in the midwest and it had been through a few rough winters before I tackled the UCAs. I have no problem and they came out really easily.

[SlickFix]

The control arms in Minnesota see a lot of salt each year for obvious reasons, and throughout the years I've encountered pinch bolts that took me 2 minutes to remove, and one that took me 4 days of blood, sweat, tears, air hammer, heat, etc.

I talked to my dealer the other day and he said that depending upon how long they take to remove, they quoted me up to $150 per pinch bolt to remove it and install a nicely lubed one. I'm going to take them up on that price if mine are problematic this time. No way will I ever spent 4 days removing one pinch bolt ever again. Even if I had to pony up $300, it would be worth it for the time and frustration saved. Besides, they charge $300 to replace one control arm, so even if I use them to remove the pinch bolts only, I'm still financially way ahead by doing the rest myself.

[TEB]

The control arms in Minnesota see a lot of salt each year for obvious reasons, and throughout the years I've encountered pinch bolts that took me 2 minutes to remove, and one that took me 4 days of blood, sweat, tears, air hammer, heat, etc.

I talked to my dealer the other day and he said that depending upon how long they take to remove, they quoted me up to $150 per pinch bolt to remove it and install a nicely lubed one. I'm going to take them up on that price if mine are problematic this time. No way will I ever spent 4 days removing one pinch bolt ever again. Even if I had to pony up $300, it would be worth it for the time and frustration saved. Besides, they charge $300 to replace one control arm, so even if I use them to remove the pinch bolts only, I'm still financially way ahead by doing the rest myself.

My dealer charged me 2 hours labor (less than $200 at the time) to loosen all bolts associated with replacing the control arms and coilovers. I went to them after spending a few hours trying to get my pinch bolts out. I provided them the full set of new bolts in case they needed them (they did need to put in new pinch bolts). It made the job a piece of cake and was well worth it.

[c0ntract_thrill]

My last pinch bolt snapped off in the knuckle during removal and the air hammer couldn't get it out. After hours of fucking with it I just said screw it.

I bought a used knuckle w/ hub/bearing/speed sensor/ brake shield from Ebay for $120 landed, it took only 5 days to get to me and it was mint! with a fresh knuckle it is really easy to install. Seriously the $120 is worth the hassle of having to take an air hammer to nonsense. If you take it to a shop it could take hours to remove it, depending on shop labour it can cost you a fortune.

[SlickFix]

I bought a used knuckle w/ hub/bearing/speed sensor/ brake shield from Ebay for $120 landed, it took only 5 days to get to me and it was mint! with a fresh knuckle it is really easy to install. Seriously the $120 is worth the hassle of having to take an air hammer to nonsense. If you take it to a shop it could take hours to remove it, depending on shop labour it can cost you a fortune.

That's a good idea, as long as you are okay with having to remove everything from the old knuckle and reinstalling them on the new one. Also, if you decide to go this route, try to purchase a knuckle that already has the wheel bearing installed.

[c0ntract_thrill]

That's a good idea, as long as you are okay with having to remove everything from the old knuckle and reinstalling them on the new one. Also, if you decide to go this route, try to purchase a knuckle that already has the wheel bearing installed.

Yeah the one I bought had everything installed, It took maybe 30 min to install it. It was actually really easy and convenient because I had bought the 034 Lower Links *(control arms).

Also when you put it back together, make sure to use a good anti seize